Abutment Plate for Water Control Gate

Abstract

The invention relates to a friction reduced and ice resistant water control gate abutment plates that permit, without damage to the concrete, large relative thermal movement between the abutment plate assembly and the concrete abutment or pier to which the assembly is attached. Features that provide ease of maintenance, tight sealing and debris damage resistance are also disclosed.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of Invention[0001]The present invention relates to abutment plates for water control gates specially adapted to controlling rivers and canals and especially wherein such gates are subject to freezing conditions.2. Description of Related Art[0002]UHMW polyethylene may be used as an abutment plate for bottom hinged water control gates. In small sizes, for example 1 to 2 meters across, closely spaced bolts may be used to secure such (one piece) abutment plates with loosely fitting bolts. The close spacing of the bolts prevents thermal buckling of the abutment plates, while clearance between the bolts and the clearance holes in the UHMW abutment plates allows for limited thermal movement of the abutment plate relative to the underlying structure. Clearance at the bolts prevents undue stresses from being generated as a result of thermal size changes of the abutment plate. Alternatively, springs may be used to secure a UHMW abutment plate to a concrete ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

This patent describes a design for a heat exchanger that prevents water-related damage and debris from affecting its performance. It includes angling the edges of adjacent abutment plate strips to prevent damage and capping the upper edge of the abutment plate strips with a stainless steel bracket. The guide rails are embedded in concrete and spaced apart using stainless steel angels, which also prevent damage to the abutment plate strips during flood flows. The lateral clearances between guide rails and abutment plate strips are filled with a low modulus filler such as RTV silicone caulk to prevent concrete from entering the tee slots and impeding the abutment plate strips' thermal expansion and contraction. Overall, this design improves the heat exchanger's durability and efficiency.

Problems solved by technology

The principal challenge to using it as an abutment plate is that it has a much higher coefficient of thermal expansion than concrete and also has a relatively high Young's modulus.

If rigidly fixed to a concrete structure the differential expansion of UHMW polyethylene and concrete may cause the concrete to break in response to temperature extremes.

If the UHMW polyethylene abutment plate were divided into tiles, the dimension change in any one tile could be limited, but would require gaps that would result in water leakage and ice formation downstream of the gate where it could prevent needed lowering of the gate.

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